Gas springs commonly are used in various implementations in forming equipment to provide a moveable component or support of a forming die or a workpiece with a yielding force or a return force. For example, in a binder ring implementation, a gas spring provides a yielding force against a binder ring of a forming die to hold a metal workpiece while another part of the forming die forms, cuts, stretches, or bends the workpiece. In a lifter implementation, the gas spring provides a yielding force and return force to lift a workpiece off a surface of the forming die or to otherwise maintain control of the workpiece. Of course, various springs including gas springs can be used in a wide range of other implementations.
In a lifter implementation, a biasing member such as a gas spring is designed for incorporation into a specific forming die and for integration with a specific lift bar configuration. Accordingly, the lifters are custom designed for a particular application and are not suited for use in other forming equipment or other applications.